I feel like Barzal should be in here, but I’m biased

I don’t have him in my current top 20. If he were to jump I I can see it if some of the young ones on here don’t pan out

Hughes gonna be way higher. barkov over mac is interesting

Bourque, Stankoven, Wyatt Johnston…

There was an NHL.com article that discussed this topic recently.

They listed five guys:

Connor McDavid
Auston Matthews
Jack Hughes
Nathan MacKinnon
Aleksander Barkov

One of them possibly… all three no chance

The fact that Elias Pettersson isn’t here is crazy…

I’m really curious. Is your favorite team possibly Dallas? Idk man just a guess

And I love the McTavish placement. The kid is showing people why he’s special

Look at that list and tell me aside from Aho, Hintz, or maybe Point if we don’t see him at top form again who he’s going to get in over?

Why Hughes over Bedard? I doubt anyone really thinks he’s has more upside than Bedard

Well half this list is filled with completely unproven players. Pettersson is proven. He is a top 20 center now and will be in 5 years. It’s very hard to judge half those players cause most of them haven’t even seen NHL icetime yet

“If he doesn’t play at his top level he’s not better then many people here.” Yeah. That’s the same with most players. If someone doesn’t play at their best they usually won’t be a star

It’s not my list but yes you’re right. I think they’re projecting unproven players to surpass him. It may not happen but it’s not crazy to think someone like Byfield will click and become an elite center

With Hintz already on the list as well. 4 top 20 centers in three years is really ambitious.

We’ll Point has trailed off since he dominated the postseason and won Tampa a cup. The jury is out on if that player is seen again. If he isn’t then he is out of the top 20 of the young guys pan out

I see no reason why a 23 year old already proven center can’t even crack top 20 in 5 years when he already is one right now. In 5 years he will be in the heart of his prime. He has a higher ceiling than most these guys here

He will be at his ceiling in a year or two time. Some of these guys are 18-20 years old and have 5 or so years yet to go. It’s certainly not inconceivable he would be on a list because a couple of the teenagers likely won’t pan out. That’s just the way it goes

I agree with this. Bedard will be in there maybe even as high as 2 eventually but Barkov and MacKinnon will only be 30.

Take out Hughes and put in Bedard and I can see that top 5

I don’t necessarily disagree but I do think Hughes is going to be in that conversation he is super slick.

The infatuation and overhyping of prospects is ridiculous. For context how many current top 20 Cs were drafted since 2018. But you think in 3 years half of them will have been drafted since 2020??????

That’s what people on capfriendly do, turn their favorite prospects into Gretzky and Lemieux

Tage Thompson has a shot at this list.

You expect 20 year olds to become top 20 centers right away? That seems odd